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For many Americans, the idea of living solely on Social Security benefits in retirement sounds like a recipe for constant worry.
Yet, some retirees manage to pull it off through a combination of extreme discipline and careful lifestyle choices.
In 2025, you will often see a tale of two retirements. One of them is represented by the story of Jean Hullihan, a former intelligence analyst for the federal government who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, and the other is Sheri Makasini, a 68-year-old in Euless, Texas. (1)
Jean worked until her full retirement age, and because she worked in a high-wage industry, her benefit comes out to $4,200 per month. She relocated from northern Virginia, where she sold her condo, to Louisville to be close to her children.
“It’s been a year and a week, and I’m not struggling at all,” she says. “When I hear people say, ‘I can’t live on Social Security,’ it’s like, Why not?”
Sheri Makasini, on the other hand, worked in the airline industry, which was chaotic after it was deregulated in the 1980s and occasionally left her without steady work.
Other life events took a toll on her ability to build wealth over the course of her life: She divorced in 2000, and in 2012 her daughter had a child that Sheri helped support.
By the time she claimed Social Security, she didn’t have enough income to keep her mobile home in Florida, so she sold it and made only $12,000 from the sale. “It’s not optimal to just get by,” she says, “but that’s the way it is.”
Below, we’ll discuss how common it is for retired Americans to live on their Social Security — and how practical it is. We’ll also provide a few tips on understanding how much you can receive and how you can budget appropriately in retirement.
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The Social Security program was conceived during the Great Depression to create a layer of income protection for older Americans, who at the time had to depend on savings or relatives if they lost their main source of income.
From the beginning, Social Security was intended as a form of social insurance to supplement other streams of income (2). The way the benefit is calculated is progressive, meaning that the lower your income is before retirement, the more income is replaced.
According to the Social Security Administration, this percentage of replaced income ranges from as much as 79% for very low earners, to about 43% for medium earners, to about 28% for maximum earners. (3)
Unfortunately, with defined-benefit pensions largely disappearing and personal savings often falling short of financial benchmarks, the Social Security safety net is often all people have.
According to research for the National Institute on Retirement Security, 40% of retired Americans rely on their benefits check to cover all their expenses in retirement. (4)
The moment of truth hits when future retirees calculate their expected benefits, which average around $1,909 per month for a retired worker, and realize this amount barely covers their basic mandatory expenses.
The easiest way to calculate your potential Social Security benefit is by creating a “my Social Security” account on the official Social Security Administration (SSA) website.
This personalized dashboard allows you to view your complete, official earnings history and provides personalized retirement estimates based on that record, comparing scenarios for claiming benefits at age 62, your full retirement age, and age 70. (5)
This tool is vastly more accurate than general calculators because it uses your actual, verified earnings data. If you prefer a quick, rough estimate without signing in, the SSA also provides a “Quick Calculator” based on your provided income details, but for serious retirement planning, accessing your official statement is essential. (6)
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You might feel it’s too late for you to play catch up in today’s retirement game, where news headlines frequently tout numbers like $1, $2, or even $3 million as necessary for retirement.
Professor of Economics Teresa Ghilarducci argues that we need a “Gray New Deal” to reboot our social contract and secure financial stability for older Americans, especially as fears of an AI jobs apocalypse grips many older white collar workers (7).
But in the meantime, there are some clues about how you can survive on just your Social Security benefit from people who have done it.
If you are still a few years from retirement, the first thing to do is increase and stabilize guaranteed income. Working longer can raise your benefit, and delaying your claim past full retirement age permanently boosts your monthly Social Security check.
Unfortunately, sometimes working longer isn’t an option. The next step is to shore up your basics by cutting fixed costs and debt.
Paying off high interest balances, downsizing to a smaller or cheaper home, and building an emergency fund can free more of your Social Security check for essentials and reduce the risk that one surprise bill blows up your budget.
If you have retirement accounts, it’s a good idea to see if you can optimize them for the long haul. Converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA may be a smart choice if you think you’ll live into your 80s or 90s.
The one secret that all retirees who live primarily on their Social Security benefit share is right-sizing their lifestyle to meet their needs.
The word “retirement” doesn’t necessarily mean taking two vacations a year and playing lots of golf. It can also mean settling into a secure situation with family and helping to take care of younger relatives.
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We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
USA Today (1); Social Security Administration (SSA) (2); (3); National Institute on Retirement Security (4; Social Security Administration (SSA) (5); (6); New York Times (7).
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.